“Yeah, I guess we can. It just doesn’t make sense that he’d call and say he was walking out the door and then he still hasn’t shown up forty-five minutes later.”
“Maybe he had to take care of something first. You never know,” Terrell interjected in AJ’s defense. I glared at him and slumped into my coat. Maisha and I took the long way around the courtyard while Terrell decided to wade through the ankle deep snow.
“He’s such an idiot,” I remarked, watching him, in awe of his blatant stupidity.
Maisha laughed and shook her head as she stared too. “All that just to shave a few seconds off the walk.”
We reached the building and I led the way up to AJ’s room on the third floor, knocking softly. Maisha leaned her ear against the door and listened for movement inside. “Nothing,” she said. “He might not even be here.”
Why would he leave and not say anything? “Do you have his key?” Terrell asked. I shook my head no and knocked harder. “Let’s just go then, and if he calls you back, he can meet us there,” he added.
I didn’t really want to leave without knowing if AJ was ok, so I declined the offer. “No, you and Maisha can go ahead. If he shows up, I’ll call one of you to see where you are so we can meet up.”
“You sure, girl?” Maisha asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Just go ahead. I’ll be fine.” I was thoroughly disappointed, partly because I was about miss everything, but mostly because AJ was still acting out of character even though things had been better lately. Antonio’s warning blared in my head like a siren that wouldn’t be ignored. AJ would’ve never left me hanging like this, especially with no clue as to where he was.
I stared at the ground as we walked back down the hall. Because I wasn’t watching where I was going, when I got to the corner, I nearly knocked AJ over. He seemed shocked that we’d come looking for him, but he quickly fixed his expression. Behind him, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure rounding the corner toward the stairs, but I couldn’t make out any details. Was he standing here talking to someone before we ran into him?
My confused expression seemed to make him uncomfortable and he racked his brain for something to say that would get my attention. “What’re you guys doing here?” He asked.
“Umm…..we were looking for you. We’re supposed to be going out, remember?
“Yeah, I remembered. I even have on what you asked me to wear,” he replied. His jeans were crisp and like new, just like his shoes. He wore a long sleeved green shirt like mine and of course he looked as good as ever, but that wasn’t going to make me falter.
“I can see that, but you called like an hour ago and said you were coming over and then you didn’t show. And then when I call to see what’s going on, you don’t answer the phone. Where’re you coming from?” Terrell and Maisha both took a step back and didn’t say a word.
“I had to run to the store for a second. Didn’t realize you’d get this mad,” he replied.
“All this could’ve been avoided if you would’ve just called and said something. Do you not wanna go? Is that it?” I hissed.
“Would you just relax?” He said, wanting to keep me from making a scene.
I hated when he tried to make me feel like I was overreacting knowing I had every reason to feel the way I did. “You know what, AJ? You can go ahead with them. I’m staying home. Have yourself a good ol’ time.” I stormed off and hurried back down the stairs. He chased behind me and caught me around my waist.
“Let me go. I don’t wanna talk to you right now. I’m sick of you making me feel like I’m crazy or something. There is something going on and I’m getting tired of pretending like there isn’t. You would’ve never had me waiting on you and looking for you like this. And now your only explanation is that you had to go to the store? Do I have stupid written across my forehead or something?”